Multivariate optimization and comparison between conventional extraction (CE) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) of carotenoid extraction from cashew apple

Carotenoids are an essential component of cashew and can be used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, natural pigment, food additives, among other applications. The present work focuses on optimizing and comparing conventional and ultrasound-assisted extraction methods. Every optimization step took place with a 1:1 (w:w) mixture of yellow and red cashew apples lyophilized and ground in a cryogenic mill. A Simplex-centroid design was applied for both methods, and the solvents acetone, methanol, ethanol, and petroleum ether were evaluated. After choosing the extractor solvent, a central composite design was applied to optimize the sample mass (59–201 mg) and extraction time (6–34 min). The optimum conditions for the extractor solvent were 38% acetone, 30% ethanol, and 32% petroleum ether for CE and a mixture of 44% acetone and 56% methanol for UAE. The best experimental conditions for UAE were a sonication time of 19 min and a sample mass of 153 mg, while the CE was 23 min and 136 mg. Comparing red and yellow cashews, red cashews showed a higher carotenoid content in both methodologies. The UAE methodology was ca. 21% faster, presented a more straightforward composition of extracting solution, showed an average yield of superior carotenoid content in all samples compared to CE. Therefore, UAE has demonstrated a simple, efficient, fast, low-cost adjustment methodology and a reliable alternative for other applications involving these bioactive compounds in the studied or similar matrix.     

A lightweight cell switching and traffic offloading scheme for energy optimization in ultra-dense heterogeneous networks

One of the major capacity boosters for 5G networks is the deployment of ultra-dense heterogeneous networks (UDHNs). However, this deployment results in a tremendous increase in the energy consumption of the network due to the large number of base stations (BSs) involved. In addition to enhanced capacity, 5G networks must also be energy efficient for it to be economically viable and environmentally friendly. Dynamic cell switching is a very common way of reducing the total energy consumption of the network, but most of the proposed methods are computationally demanding, which makes them unsuitable for application in ultra-dense network deployment with massive number of BSs. To tackle this problem, we propose a lightweight cell switching scheme also known as Threshold-based Hybrid cEll swItching Scheme (THESIS) for energy optimization in UDHNs. The developed approach combines the benefits of clustering and exhaustive search (ES) algorithm to produce a solution whose optimality is close to that of the ES (which is guaranteed to be optimal), but is computationally more efficient than ES and as such can be applied for cell switching in real networks even when their dimension is large. The performance evaluation shows that THESIS significantly reduces the energy consumption of the UDHN and can reduce the complexity of finding a near-optimal solution from exponential to polynomial complexity.     

Pure annihilation decay of strange beauty meson into two charm heavy mesons

In this study, the heavy to heavy decay of \begin{document}$ B^0_s\rightarrow D^{*+}D^- $\end{document} is evaluated through the factorization approach by using the final state interaction as an effective correction. Under the factorization approach, this decay mode occurs only through the annihilation process, so a small amount is produced. Feynman's rules state that six meson pairs can be assumed for the intermediate states before the final meson pairs are produced. By taking into account the effects of twelve final state interaction diagrams in the calculations, a significant correction is obtained. These effects correct the value of the branching ratio obtained by the pure factorization approach from \begin{document}$ (2.41\pm1.37)\times10^{-5} $\end{document} to \begin{document}$ (8.27\pm2.23)\times10^{-5} $\end{document}. The value obtained for the branching ratio of the \begin{document}$ B^0_s\rightarrow D^{*+}D^- $\end{document} decay is consistent with the experimental results.     

Fast computation of generic bivariate resultants

We prove that the resultant of two “sufficiently generic” bivariate polynomials over a finite field can be computed in quasi-linear expected time, using a randomized algorithm of Las Vegas type. A similar complexity bound is proved for the computation of the lexicographical Gröbner basis for the ideal generated by the two polynomials.     

Diffusion Model of a Non-Integer Order PIγ Controller with TCP/UDP Streams

In this article, a way to employ the diffusion approximation to model interplay between TCP and UDP flows is presented. In order to control traffic congestion, an environment of IP routers applying AQM (Active Queue Management) algorithms has been introduced. Furthermore, the impact of the fractional controller PIγ and its parameters on the transport protocols is investigated. The controller has been elaborated in accordance with the control theory. The TCP and UDP flows are transmitted simultaneously and are mutually independent. Only the TCP is controlled by the AQM algorithm. Our diffusion model allows a single TCP or UDP flow to start or end at any time, which distinguishes it from those previously described in the literature.     

Dark Energy with Phantom Crossing and the H0 Tension

We investigate the possibility of phantom crossing in the dark energy sector and the solution for the Hubble tension between early and late universe observations. We use robust combinations of different cosmological observations, namely the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), local measurement of Hubble constant (H0), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and SnIa for this purpose. For a combination of CMB+BAO data that is related to early universe physics, phantom crossing in the dark energy sector was confirmed at a 95% confidence level and we obtained the constraint H0=71.0−3.8+2.9 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level, which is in perfect agreement with the local measurement by Riess et al. We show that constraints from different combinations of data are consistent with each other and all of them are consistent with phantom crossing in the dark energy sector. For the combination of all data considered, we obtained the constraint H0=70.25±0.78 km/s/Mpc at a 68% confidence level and the phantom crossing happening at the scale factor am=0.851−0.031+0.048 at a 68% confidence level.     

PSO-LSSVM对LIBS定量分析精度的提高

针对土壤定量分析受基体效应影响大，LIBS定量分析精度不佳等问题，采用粒子群算法对LSSVM进行优化，提高模型的精确度。选取Pb Ⅰ 405.78 nm和Cr Ⅰ 425.44 nm作为分析谱线进行分析。采集十二个不同浓度样品的特征光谱，每个浓度样品在不同点采集20组数据，将其中17组数据设为训练集，3组数据设为预测集，用LSSVM和PSO-LSSVM两种方法建立定标模型。对比两种模型的拟合相关系数（R2）、训练集均方根误差（RMSEC）和预测集均方根误差(RMSEP)。由于自吸收效应的影响，随着浓度的增加，预测值逐渐低于实际值，LSSVM定标模型的拟合程度较低，无法达到实验要求，模型性能有待提高。利用粒子群算法对LSSVM的模型参数惩罚系数和核函数参数进行优化，得到最佳的参数组合，Pb元素为(8 096.8, 138.865 7)，Cr元素为(4 908.6, 393.563 5)，用最佳的参数组合构建LSSVM的定标模型。相比于LSSVM，PSO-LSSVM定标模型的精确度更高，Pb和Cr元素的R2提高到了0.982 8和0.985 0，拟合效果明显提升。Pb和Cr元素的训练集均方根误差由0.026 0 Wt%和0.027 2 Wt%下降到0.022 4 Wt%和0.019 1 Wt%，预测集均方根误差由0.101 8 Wt%和0.078 8 Wt% 下降到0.045 8 Wt%和0.042 0 Wt%，模型的稳定性进一步提高。说明PSO-LSSVM算法能够更好地降低土壤基体效应和自吸收效应带来的影响，提高分析结果的精确度与稳定性。     

Deciphering the Structure and Chemical Composition of Drug Nanocarriers: From Bulk Approaches to Individual Nanoparticle Characterization

Drug nanocarriers (NCs) with sizes usually below 200 nm are gaining increasing interest in the treatment of severe diseases such as cancer and infections. Characterization methods to investigate the morphology and physicochemical properties of multifunctional NCs are key in their optimization and in the study of their in vitro and in vivo fate. Whereas a variety of methods has been developed to characterize “bulk” NCs in suspension, the scope of this review is to describe the different approaches for the NC characterization on an individual basis, for which fewer techniques are available. The accent is put on methods devoid of labelling, which could lead to artefacts. For each characterization method, the principles and approaches to analyze the data are presented in an accessible manner. Aspects related to sample preparation to avoid artefacts are indicated, and emphasis is put on examples of applications. NC characterization on an individual basis allows gaining invaluable information in terms of quality control, on: i) NC localization and fate in biological samples; ii) NC morphology and crystallinity; iii) distribution of the NC components (drugs, shells), and iv) quantification of NCs’ chemical composition. The individual characterization approaches are expected to gain increasing interest in the near future.     

Negative thermal expansion in NbF_3 and NbOF_2:A comparative theoretical study

Thermal expansion control is always an obstructive factor and challenging in high precision engineering field. Here,the negative thermal expansion of Nb F_3 and Nb OF_2 was predicted by first-principles calculation with density functional theory and the quasi-harmonic approximation(QHA). We studied the total charge density, thermal vibration, and lattice dynamic to investigate the thermal expansion mechanism. We found that the presence of O induced the relatively strong covalent bond in Nb OF_2, thus weakening the transverse vibration of F and O in Nb OF_2, compared with the case of Nb F_3.In this study, we proposed a way to tailor negative thermal expansion of metal fluorides by introducing the oxygen atoms.The present work not only predicts two NTE compounds, but also provides an insight on thermal expansion control by designing chemical bond type.     

全局优化问题的一个新的无参数填充函数

求全局最优化问题的填充函数算法被提出以来，参数的选取和调整一直是制约算法有效性的因素。如何在实际的计算过程中选取合适的参数，直接影响和决定了运算速度和效率。因此，构造不含参数的填充函数就显得极为重要。提出一个新的无参数的填充函数，对其理论性质进行了分析，并给出相应的填充函数算法，数值计算验证了算法的有效性。